Background: Deer Ridge Correctional Institution (KTVZ/YouTube). Inset: Inside Deer Ridge (KMTR/YouTube).
A prison doctor in Oregon is accused of normalizing his sexual abuse of an inmate with talks about horses, art and lunch — sometimes laughing in his face about the alleged assaults — while his higher-ups turned a blind eye, a new lawsuit says.
James Watkins, now a free man, alleges he was abused “over a course of months” by Oregon Department of Corrections physician Dr. Leland Beamer, who is chief medical officer at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Jefferson County.
Watkins’ lawyers, Alicia LeDuc Montgomery and Elisabeth Claus, say he suffered from “physical pain and continues to suffer from personal humiliation, fear, anxiety, and mental and emotional distress” as a result of the abuse and have filed a lawsuit in federal court against DOC officials and employees, including Beamer and Deer Ridge’s former superintendent Amber Sundquist, who is accused of ignoring complaints and lawsuits regarding ODOC medical employees like Beamer who are “sexually harassing or abusing adults in custody at DOC facilities,” according to Watkins’ suit.
“Between November 2022, and January 2023, plaintiff Watkins was treated by Dr. Beamer during approximately five medical appointments,” the complaint says. “Beamer’s actions toward plaintiff Watkins in subsequent medical appointments became increasingly inappropriate and harmful.”
During one exam, Beamer allegedly made “uncomfortable personal remarks” and “engaged in inappropriate touching” of Watkins’ legs and arms — commenting on how “big” he was, the complaint says. Beamer allegedly tried plying Watkins with offers of “personal favors” and promises of future lunch dates once he got out, where they’d be “talking about horses” Beamer owns and discussing ways he can “help Watkins with his art,” the complaint said.
Watkins began seeing Beamer after he slipped on water and fell in the DRCI kitchen area, leading to a back injury and appointments for injections. Beamer’s alleged abuse started with normal examinations for the injections before the doctor began requesting more “uncomfortable” procedures and committing “inappropriate” acts, like “open-palm slapping” Watkins on his bare buttocks and carrying out an alleged sphincter exam on him that made the former inmate feel “sexually violated,” according to his lawyers.
“Defendant Beamer performed a sphincter exam on plaintiff Watkins,” the complaint says, noting how Beamer allegedly “laughed” at the end of the procedure.
“Watkins felt uncomfortable with the idea of the exam, but defendant Beamer insisted on proceeding,” the document says. “Defendant Beamer heard plaintiff Watkins tell him to stop touching plaintiff and to stop the ‘exam.’ But defendant Beamer did not stop the ‘exam’ after plaintiff Watkins objected.”
In addition to physical pain, Watkins says he was “subsequently diagnosed with PTSD” after the alleged incidents. He claims to have “exhausted all administrative remedies” regarding the alleged abuse after filing “grievances and appeals” to no avail. Watkins’ only option left at this point, per his lawyers, was to file a federal lawsuit, which falls in line with what other inmates have done in recent years.
“The Oregon Department of Corrections has been on notice for years about its systemic problem of sexual abuse and exploitation of inmates by prison staff,” LeDuc Montgomery said in a statement this week, which pointed to similar cases like the 2023 conviction of former prison nurse Tony Klein, who was sentenced to 30 years for abusing female inmates.
“This is not a case of a male prison official raping female inmates, but that is precisely why this case is important,” she told Law&Crime on Thursday. “If the Oregon Department of Corrections lets any form of sexual abuse slide under the radar, it enables the culture and environment that leads to egregious events like we saw with the Tony Klein prosecution. ODOC needs to take bodily autonomy and safety seriously, and hold perpetrators of any form of sexual misconduct accountable.”
Watkins is suing for damages, attorney fees and costs to “redress the violations of his constitutional and state law rights caused by [Beamer’s] misconduct.”
Attempts by Law&Crime to reach DOC officials and Beamer on Thursday were unsuccessful.
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